Optical waveform generation and use based on print characteristics for MICR data of paper documents

ABSTRACT

A method and system for determining an optical waveform based on a plurality of print features of a selected marking of a document. The method and system comprise obtaining optical image data representing the print features of the selected marking. The optical image data is corrected for at least one of print contrast or reflectance of the print features in the optical image data using respective print contrast thresholds or reflectance thresholds to produce a converted pixel map of the selected marking, the pixel map containing an ordered sequence of values. Also included is a generation module to transform the print features represented in the converted pixel map to a plurality of corresponding waveform features to produce the optical waveform of the selected marking, the corresponding waveform features including a plurality of spaced apart peaks representing respective optical signal levels of the print features.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to image processing of paper documents.

BACKGROUND

The current paper document-processing environment is dependent uponpaper processing, which can be inefficient. What is needed is anefficient electronic paper document design process that confirms a paperdocument design that will be compatible with current electronic capture,storage, and processing system, which are used to alleviate or otherwisemitigate the dependence upon paper form of items such as personal andbusiness checks, for example. Since a vast majority of checks aretransported physically via air from one bank to another, and planes canbe grounded for a variety of reasons, substantial costs can be incurredby banks due to check processing being delayed. The current systemrelies upon the physical movement of original paper checks from the bankwhere the checks are deposited to the bank that pays them, which can beinefficient and costly.

Under current law, a bank may send the original paper check for paymentunless it has an electronic payment agreement with the paying bank.Under Check 21 legislation in the United States, by authorizing the useof a new negotiable instrument called a “substitute check” (aka imagereplacement document), electronic check processing is enabled withoutmandating that any bank change its current check collection practices.The substitute check is a paper reproduction of an original check thatcontains an image of the front and back of the original check, which issuitable for automated processing in the same manner as the originalcheck, as long as the check image meets other technical requirements,such as having mandated image quality, otherwise referred to as imagereadiness that includes acceptable print contrast between the checkbackground and any critical data (e.g. signatures, printed amounts,etc.) placed over the background.

As a result of Check 21, banks that wish to scan the original papercheck to create a substitute check require it to satisfy print contrastsignal (PCS) standards with respect to the check background. Printcontrast acceptability is the design attribute of a check that ensuresoptimum recognition of amounts, legibility of handwriting, andreasonably low file size that are positioned overtop of any backgrounddesign images on the surface of the check. Current testing of printcontrast is done by calculating a subjectively selected portion of thebackground of the printed document (e.g. check) using a staticbackground image sample as representative for the print contrast of theentire document. For example, excessive background clutter resultingfrom the background image(s) causes interference with the legibility ofhandwritten data (i.e. critical data) and low background reflectance ofthe background image(s) causes handwritten data to drop out due toinsufficient contrast.

Unfortunately, current testing for print quality only uses a staticallyselected background sample to test print contrast signal compliance ofthe check document design, which can be subjective as each tester canget a different print contrast signal of a check depending upon thestatic background image sample that is selected by the tester. Thismanual testing process is inefficient in cost and time due to the checkdesigns that may pass some PCS testing only to fail PCS standards whenprocessed by other check image processing equipment.

Further, it is known that a magnetic reader can identify each magnetizedcharacter and symbol of the MICR line using logical analysis algorithmsof the magnetic wave patterns that the characters produce. However,while MICR characters may be read magnetically and pass magnetic testingin comparison to magnetic waveform templates as is know in the art, itis recognised that optical characteristics of the same MICR characters(in particular in the presence of competing optical print informationsuch as background markings and improper reflectance of the surface ofthe document, for example) can cause the same MICR characters to berejected due to optical defects (e.g. voids in the lines/strokes of thecharacters, incorrect visual inter or intra spacing of characterlines/strokes, and/or incorrect heights/widths of the characterlines/strokes) of the printed characters 14. Further, for non-MICRmarkings on the document, there is no magnetic waveform to rely upon toobjectively test the optical character of the markings IM.

Accordingly, there exists a substantial disadvantage with correctdocument imaging techniques and corresponding optical quality testingtechniques for OCR read visual features of the documents as printcontrast signal compliance of the check document design can besubjective as each tester can get a different print contrast signal of acheck depending upon the static background image sample that is selectedby the tester. This manual testing process is inefficient in cost andtime due to the check designs that may pass some PCS testing only tofail PCS standards when processed by other check image processingequipment. MICR testing via magnetic methods does not have the addedpotential for error generation of optical testing due to the printcontrast and/or reflectance issues inherent in the OCR reading of theprint characters, for example to counteract the effects of backgroundimages on the document surface, as the document print surrounding theMICR characters should not contain magnetic ink.

SUMMARY

There is a need for a method and a system for paper document testingthat overcomes or otherwise mitigates a disadvantage of the prior art.

It is recognised that optical characteristics of the MICR characters (inparticular in the presence of competing optical print information suchas background markings and improper reflectance of the surface of thedocument, for example) can cause the MICR characters to be rejected dueto optical defects (e.g. voids in the lines/strokes of the characters,incorrect visual inter or intra spacing of character lines/strokes,and/or incorrect heights/widths of the character lines/strokes) of theprinted characters 14. Further, for non-MICR markings on the document,there is no magnetic waveform to rely upon to objectively test theoptical character of the markings IM. Accordingly, there exists asubstantial disadvantage with correct document imaging techniques andcorresponding optical quality testing techniques for OCR read visualfeatures of the documents as print contrast signal compliance of thecheck document design can be subjective as each tester can get adifferent print contrast signal of a check depending upon the staticbackground image sample that is selected by the tester. This manualtesting process is inefficient in cost and time due to the check designsthat may pass some PCS testing only to fail PCS standards when processedby other check image processing equipment. MICR testing via magneticmethods does not have the added potential for error generation ofoptical testing due to the print contrast and/or reflectance issuesinherent in the OCR reading of the print characters, for example tocounteract the effects of background images on the document surface, asthe document print surrounding the MICR characters should not containmagnetic ink.

Contrary to current document testing methods and systems there is amethod and system for determining an optical waveform based on aplurality of print features of a selected marking of a document. Themethod and system comprise obtaining optical image data representing theprint features of the selected marking. The optical image data iscorrected for at least one of print contrast or reflectance of the printfeatures in the optical image data using respective print contrastthresholds or reflectance thresholds to produce a converted pixel map ofthe selected marking, the pixel map containing an ordered sequence ofvalues. Also included is a generation module to transform the printfeatures represented in the converted pixel map to a plurality ofcorresponding waveform features to produce the optical waveform of theselected marking, the corresponding waveform features including aplurality of spaced apart peaks representing respective optical signallevels of the print features.

A first aspect provided is a method for determining an optical waveformbased on a plurality of print features of a selected marking of adocument, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining optical imagedata representing the print features of the selected marking; correctingat least one of print contrast or reflectance of the print features inthe optical image data using respective print contrast thresholds orreflectance thresholds to produce a converted pixel map of the selectedmarking, the pixel map containing an ordered sequence of values; andtransforming the print features represented in the converted pixel mapto a plurality of corresponding waveform features to produce the opticalwaveform of the selected marking, the corresponding waveform featuresincluding a plurality of spaced apart peaks representing respectiveoptical signal levels of the print features.

A second aspect provided is a system for determining an optical waveformbased on a plurality of print features of a selected marking of adocument, the system comprising: an optical reader device to obtainoptical image data representing the print features of the selectedmarking; a conversion module to correct at least one of print contrastor reflectance of the print features in the optical image data usingrespective print contrast thresholds or reflectance thresholds toproduce a converted pixel map of the selected marking, the pixel mapcontaining an ordered sequence of values; and a generation module totransform the print features represented in the converted pixel map to aplurality of corresponding waveform features to produce the opticalwaveform of the selected marking, the corresponding waveform featuresincluding a plurality of spaced apart peaks representing respectiveoptical signal levels of the print features.

A further aspect provided is an optical reader device configured togenerate an optical waveform based on a plurality of print features of aselected marking of a document, the device comprising: an optical readerhead to obtain optical image data representing the print features of theselected marking; a conversion module to correct at least one of printcontrast or reflectance of the print features in the optical image datausing respective print contrast thresholds or reflectance thresholds toproduce a converted pixel map of the selected marking, the pixel mapcontaining an ordered sequence of values; and a generation module totransform the print features represented in the converted pixel map to aplurality of corresponding waveform features to produce the opticalwaveform of the selected marking, the corresponding waveform featuresincluding a plurality of spaced apart peaks representing respectiveoptical signal levels of the print features.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features will become more apparent in the followingdetailed description in which reference is made to the appended drawingsby way of example only, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an example document;

FIG. 2 shows example areas of interest of the document of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a scanned image of the document of FIG. 1 with backgroundfeatures removed;

FIG. 4 shows markings as MICR characters of the document of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows an example optical waveform generator system for processingthe document of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 shows an example generated optical waveform for print features ofa selected marking of the document of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 7 a,b,c show example template optical waveforms for use incomparing to the generated optical waveform of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows captured optical image data of the optical reader of FIG.5;

FIG. 9 shows an example conversion of the optical image data of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 shows an example further embodiment of the document of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a further embodiment of the conversionmodule of the system of FIG. 5 for operating on the document of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of an example operation of the documentanalysis environment of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 shows an example determination of PCS values for the documentanalysis of FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 shows an example operation of the system of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 15 shows an example embodiment of a computing system for thesystems of FIGS. 5 and 11.

DESCRIPTION Paper Documents 12

Referring to FIG. 1, shown are two example paper documents (e.g. checks)12 having a plurality of areas of interest (AOIs), see FIG. 2, which areconsidered as the areas on a document surface 13 that contain criticaldata 15 (e.g. signature) as well as interest markings IM that should bediscernable in a recorded digital image 17 (as performed using variousOCR techniques) of the document surface 13 (see FIG. 3). In the case ofwhere the document 12 is a check, the areas of interest. AOI are such asbut not limited to: Date; Payee; Numerical Amount; Legal Amount (AmountSpelled out); Signature Lines; and the MICR numbering line Area. Ingeneral, it is noted that the areas of interest AOI and the interestmarkings IM can also contain background images 18 (e.g. pictures/images,designs, fill schemes, personal or business logo; font style; color;size and location background features and check fields—e.g. AOIs, etc.).These background images 18 are designed such that they provide adesirable graphical design appeal of document surface 13 while at thesame time do not occlude or otherwise interfere with the quality of thedigital image recording of the critical data 15 located in the areas ofinterest AOI as well as occlude or otherwise interfere with the imagequality of the interest markings IM. It is recognised that the imagerecording process of the document surface 13 provides for scanning andbinary conversion (i.e. into a plurality of pixel values) of thecritical data 15 (e.g. handwriting) from the areas of interest AOI andthe interest markings IM. It is also recognised that the backgroundimages 18 should not occlude the interest markings IM on the surface 13of the document 12, such as but not limited to the MICR characters 14,specified text (e.g. “Teller Stamp Here Box”), the dollar sign, etc. Inany event, it is recognised that the background images 18 should dropout from the AOIs (so that any critical data 15 resident in the AOIswill not be occluded) and the background data 18 should also drop outfrom the surface 13 areas adjacent to the interest markings IM that theinterest markings IM are legible in the image 17 of the document 12.

It is recognised that the documents 12 can be manufactured using avariety of different stock materials 16 such as but not limited todifferent versions of paper, etc. It is also recognised that thedocuments 12 can be embodied as any document that has a requirement forimage quality of selected areas (e.g. AOIs) of the document surface 13,such that the selected area(s) (e.g. AOI(s), IM(s)) of the scanned image17 (see FIG. 3) of the document 12 satisfy specified PCS threshold(s) 20(see FIG. 5). Examples of the documents 12 are such as but not limitedto: checks; coupons; forms; and other documents 12 suitable for havingthe scanned image 17 (e.g. a grey scale image) recorded of the documentsurface 13 (e.g. front side and/or backside of the document 12).

Referring to FIG. 2, shown are example areas of interest AOI andinterest markings IM for a check embodiment of the document 12, asdiscussed above. It is also recognised that the areas of interest AOIfor a form and/or coupon can be areas such as but not limited to:signature region, identification number/information; visible securityfeature positioned on document surface 13; logo or other visibleicon(s); etc. Referring to FIG. 3, shown is the scanned digital image 17of the document 12 of FIG. 1, such that the background images 18 (seeFIG. 1) have not occluded the critical data 15 resident in the areas ofinterest AOI, nor the IMs.

It is recognised that the interest markings IM, for example MICRcharacters 14, have associated dimensional thresholds 20 that areacceptable according to an optical print standard for the IM dimensions(e.g. marking height, marking width, marking contrast as a measure ofimage intensity of the marking, spacing between lines/strokes of aparticular marking, spacing between lines/strokes of adjacent markings,etc.—see FIG. 6), such that the identified dimensions (e.g. via OCR) ofthe markings IM must be above or below their corresponding respectivethreshold value 20 of the optical print standard.

Document 12 Types

Turnaround documents 12 refer to any type of volume transaction, whethernegotiable or not, that requires data capture. Familiar examples ofturnaround documents 12 are: credit card invoices; insurance paymentbooklets; and instant rebate coupons. Turnaround documents 12 are alsoused in remittance processing, which is a procedure for handling itemsreturned with a payment. MICR encoded turnaround documents 12 can enableorganizations to cut their resource and equipment costs.

Examples of documents 12 can include issuing checks such as Payrollchecks, Accounts payable checks, Dividend checks, Benefit checks,Drafts, Warrants, Negotiable orders of withdrawal, for example. Issuingturnaround documents 12 refer to any type of volume transaction, whethernegotiable or not, that requires data capture. Familiar examples ofturnaround documents are: Credit card invoices; Insurance paymentbooklets; and Instant rebate coupons. Turnaround documents 12 can alsoused in remittance processing, which is a procedure for handling itemsreturned with a payment. MICR encoded turnaround documents 12 enableorganizations to cut their resource and equipment costs. MICR is alsoused for printing a variety of financial forms 12 which can include:Personal checkbooks; Limited transaction checks, such as money marketchecks; Direct mail promotional coupons; Credit remittance instruments;and Internal bank control documents, such as batch tickets.

MICR Characters 14

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, or MICR,is a character recognition technology adopted mainly by the bankingindustry to facilitate the processing of cheques 12. A magnetic reader(not shown) can identify each magnetized character 14 and symbol of theMICR line using logical analysis algorithms of the magnetic wavepatterns that the characters 14 produce.

The major MICR fonts used around the world are E-13B and CMC-7. TheE-13B font (see FIG. 3) was chosen by almost all Indian, US, Canadianand UK checks 12 which now include MICR characters 14 at the bottom ofthe paper 12 in the E-13B font. Some countries, including France, usethe CMC-7 font instead. The 14 characters of the E-13B font include thecontrol characters bracketing each numeral block as transit, on-us,amount, and dash. One such stylized font, adopted by the AmericanBanking Association, is called E-13B. FIG. 3 illustrates the E-13Bnumerical font characters.

An example of the CMC-7 MICR font. has control characters after thenumerals as internal, terminator, amount, routing, and an unusedcharacter. In addition to their unique fonts, MICR characters 14 areprinted with a magnetic ink or toner, usually containing iron oxide.Magnetic printing is used so that the characters 14 can be reliably readmagnetically, even when they have been overprinted with other marks suchas cancellation stamps. The characters 14 are first magnetized in theplane of the paper 12 with a North pole on the right of each MICRcharacter 14, for example. Then they are usually read with a MICR readhead of the reader which is a device similar in nature to the playbackhead in an audio tape recorder, and the letterforms' bulbous shapesensure that each letter produces a unique magnetic waveform for thecharacter recognition system to provide a character result.

The specifications for producing the E13B font using magnetic ink wereaccepted as a standard by the American Bankers Association (ABA). Groupsthat set standards and dictate the design specifications for document 12encoding, processing equipment, and quality criteria for MICR printing,as a definitive basis for determining acceptable quality of a MICRdocument 12. Some of these group standards are: American BankingAssociation (ABA); American National Standards Institute (ANSI); UnitedKingdom—Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS); CanadianPayments Association (CPA); Australian Bankers Association (ABA);International Organization for Standardization (ISO);France—L′Association Francaise de Normalisation. All of the E13Bcharacters 14 are designed on a 7 by 9 matrix of 0.013 inch/0.33 mmsquares. The minimum/threshold 20 for character width is four squares(or 0.052 inch/1.3 mm) for the numbers 1 and 2. The maximum/thresholdwidth is 0.091 inch/2.3 mm for the number 8, 0, and four specialsymbols. Concerning other thresholds 20, all characters except the On-Usand Dash symbols have a height of 0.117 inch/3 mm. This does notcorrespond to an exact point size usually specified for fonts, but isbetween 8 and 9 points. The height of the On-Us symbol is 0.091 inch/2.3mm, and the dash is 0.052 inch/1.3 mm. Both heights are multiples of thebasic 0.013 inch/0.33 mm unit.

Optical Waveform 200,202

It is known that a magnetic reader (not shown) can identify eachmagnetized character 14 and symbol of the MICR line using logicalanalysis algorithms of the magnetic wave patterns that the characters 14produce. However, while MICR characters 14 may be read magnetically andpass magnetic testing in comparison to magnetic waveform templates as isknow in the art, it is recognised that optical characteristics of thesame MICR characters 14 (in particular in the presence of competingoptical print information such as background markings 18 and improperreflectance of the surface 13 of the document, for example) can causethe same MICR characters 14 to be rejected due to optical defects (e.g.voids in the lines/strokes of the characters 14, incorrect visual interor intra spacing of character lines/strokes, and/or incorrectheights/widths of the character lines/strokes)of the printed characters14.

Further, for non-MICR markings IM, there is no magnetic waveform to relyupon to objectively test the optical character of the markings IM.Accordingly, there exists a substantial disadvantage with correctdocument 12 imaging techniques and corresponding optical quality testingtechniques for OCR read visual features IM of the documents 12 as printcontrast signal (PCS) compliance of the check document 12 design can besubjective as each tester can get a different print contrast signal of acheck 12 depending upon the static background 18 image sample that isselected by the tester. This manual testing process is inefficient incost and time due to the check 12 designs that may pass some PCS testingonly to fail PCS standards when processed by other check imageprocessing equipment. MICR 14 testing via magnetic methods does not havethe added potential for error generation of optical testing due to theprint contrast and/or reflectance issues inherent in the OCR reading ofthe print characters 14, for example to counteract the effects ofbackground images 18 on the document surface 13, as the document printsurrounding the MICR characters 14 should not contain magnetic ink.

Referring to FIG. 5, shown is a system/apparatus 10 configured forcalculating optical waveforms 200 markings IM (e.g. MICR characters 14)based on their optically obtained attributes (line width, line height,line spacings, line optical contrast intensity, etc.) via an opticalimage reader 24 and corresponding optical waveform generation engine 26.The apparatus 10 is configured to read a document 12 having one or moreprinted markings IM (e.g. Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, or MICR,characters 14). The apparatus 10 can have a transport mechanism 16 (e.g.a series of drive rollers, gears, belts, etc. configured todirect/transport the document 12) for physically translating thedocument 12 past the optical reader 24 configured for identifyingoptical characteristics 25 of the markings IM for use in generating theoptical waveform 200 (see FIG. 5). The optical reader 24 is configuredfor identifying a digitized image 25 of each marking IM, as furtherdescribed below.

The document transport mechanism 16 can include, for example, a singlepass document track such that the document transport mechanism 16conveys the document 12 past the readers 24. The reader device 24performs operations on the document 12, such that the document transportmechanism 16 receives 17 the document 12 from an input 15 (e.g. slot),routes the document 14 past the reader 24, and then directs the document12 to an output slot 19. The reader devices 24 (e.g. camera or scanner)is positioned in the housing 11 so as to be able to take electronicimages of one or more markings IM on the surface 13 of the document 12.

It is also recognised that the transport mechanism 16 could beconfigured to translate the readers 24 over the surface 13 of astationary document 12. It is also recognised that the transportmechanism 16 could be configured to translate the reader 24 over thesurface 13 of a moving document 12. In any event, it is recognised thatthe transport mechanism 16 is configured to provide relative movementbetween the surface 13 (see FIG. 1) of the document 12 and the reader24.

Referring again to FIG. 5, the apparatus 10 can also have a database 32containing optical patterns 34 representing respective standardizedoptical waveform templates 202 (see FIG. 7 a, 7 b) having predefinedoptical waveform characteristics 52 (peaks, peak spacing, peakheight/amplitude, reference spacing, etc.—see FIG. 6) of the charactersIM. Each of the patterns 34 can be used by an analysis module 50 (and/orby the individual reader 24) to optically recognise the recordedcharacters IM in the optical information 25 based on comparison to eachof the waveform templates 202 to optically recognise the recordedcharacters IM in the optical information 25 based on generated opticalwaveform 200 characteristics of the character IM, as further describedbelow. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, it is apparent that there wouldbe a correlation between the optical dimensions 52 (line/strokeplacement, line/stroke height/width) of the marking IM and thecorresponding optical waveform 200 waveform characteristics 54 (e.g.“positive peak values”, “negative peak values”, and “substantiallyzero/reference values” which are arranged in predetermined combinationsand positioning with respect to each other) to the correspondingstandard waveform features of the waveform templates 202.

Differences between the waveforms 200, 202 could be compared by theanalysis module 50 (for example of the generation engine 26 or as aseparate module/engine, as desired) for each of the respectivecharacters IM to determine what defects in the characters IM are aconsequence of errors in the generated optical waveform 200 of thecharacters 14 compared to the standard waveform template 202. Theapparatus 10 also has a user interface 28 for displaying comparisoninformation 30 or any other analysis information 30 generated by theanalysis module 50 based on the compared information 200,202, as furtherdescribed below.

Generation of Optical Waveforms 200,202

Referring to FIGS. 5,8,9, the optical reader 24 is used to determine theoptical image data 25 of each desired marking IM (e.g. MICR character14) scanned or otherwise optically imaged off the surface 13 of thedocument 12 (see FIG. 1). It is recognised that not only are the MICRcharacters 14 identified by the optical reader 24, also the otheroptical elements IM of the document 12 can also be identified tocomprise a digitized image 17 of the document 12 (see FIG. 3) for use insubsequent digitization of the image data 25 to account for reflectanceand/or print contrast effects, as further described below. It isrecognised that the operation of the image reader 24 provides formarkings IM (e.g. MICR characters 14) Area Image Processing to obtainthe electronic image data 25 representing the optical print features ofthe markings IM on the surface 1′3 of the document 12.

Optical readers 24 typically use a light source and some type ofphotosensitive matrix array to convert an image of the marking IM into aset of electrical signals. Optical character recognition, usuallyabbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic translation ofimages of handwritten, typewritten or printed text (usually captured bya scanner) into machine-editable text. It is used to convert documents12 into electronic files, for instance. By replacing each block ofpixels that resembles a particular character (such as a letter, digit orpunctuation mark) or word with that character or word, OCR makes itpossible to digitize and store the identified MICR characters 14 and theother optical features IM. Optical character recognition (using opticaltechniques such as mirrors and lenses) and digital character recognition(using scanners and computer algorithms) are considered to includedigital image processing as well.

Print Contrast/Reflectance Conversion Module 62

The waveform generation engine 26 can use a print contrast module 62 touse knowledge of colour and printed colour reflectance behavior and/orprint contrast characteristics of the imaged markings IM 25 (includingany background 18, reflectance issues, or any other extraneous opticalnoise) to create a converted PCS map 58 based on the use of printcontrast thresholds 20 and/or reflectance thresholds 20, for use ingeneration of various optical waveform attributes 200 of the printedMICR characters 14, for example, and to optionally conduct optical testsbased on waveform 200,202 comparison.

For example, the OCR process can also include correction for background18 (FIG. 8) images to be removed from the resulting image 58 of thedocument. Processes for removal of the background 18 can be done throughvarious thresholding 20 (via the module 62) to convert the gray scalesignal to a black/white signal 58 and analog-to-digital pixel conversionto transform the black/white signal to a series of pixels (e.g. binarypixel map 60, such as a conversion to a pixel matrix) having a firstunique value (e.g. of “one”), corresponding to a black picture element,and a second unique value (e.g. “zero”), corresponding to a whitepicture element. In this manner, the pixel map 60 has been corrected forprint contract and/or reflectance issues that are present in thedocument 12.

Referring again to FIG. 5, as the document 12 is moved relative to thecamera/imager 24, the entire document 12 may be imaged or only a portionof the document 12 may be imaged. The imaged area can includes themonetary amount IM of the document 12, the MICR character 14 field, thebank of origin 14, check number IM,14, customer account number 14, andsimilar information, shown within the MICR character 14 field.

Optical image data 25 is obtained from the document 12 and processed asfollows, for example. Successive vertical scans of picture elements, orpixels 25, are provided by the imager 24, starting at the right side ofthe check 12 and proceeding towards the left side thereof. In theembodiment described, camera 24 is capable of generating a resolution(e.g. greater than 0.001″ sample rate). The output 25 of camera 24 canbe an analog gray scale signal provided to a line imager (of the module62) for digitizing and processing. The line imager 62 can performvarious processing tasks including thresholding 20 to convert the grayscale signal 25 to a black/white signal 58 (e.g. having removedextraneous markings such as background and/or having correctedreflectance issues) and analog-to-digital pixel conversion to transformthe black/white signal to a series of pixels 60 having values of “one”,corresponding to a black picture element, and “zero”, corresponding to awhite picture-element. The line imager 62 can perform the characterformatting to isolate and refine the pixel information associated with acharacter 14 being imaged by camera 24, due to print contrast signalsand/or background removal and other extraneous mark removal (e.g. printink splatter).

Accordingly, in view of the above, the module 62 facilitates the opticaldata 25 to be converted to the bitmap 58 and then converted to a matrixM (e.g. ordered series of pixels 60), so that each matrix element mijvalue corresponds to a bitmap pixel: e.g. mij=1 if a pixel is “black”and mij=0 if a pixel is “white”. Note, that matrix values can be flippedhorizontally, is the marking IM reading 24 starts from the right edge ofthe MICR document 12.

Waveform Generation Module 64

Referring again to FIGS. 5,6,9 a waveform generation module 64 can beused to convert the pixel map/matrix 60 to the corresponding opticalwaveform 200 having a plurality of waveform characteristics 54corresponding to a plurality of optical dimensional printcharacteristics 52 of the imaged markings IM, as represented by thepixel map/matrix 60.

The generation module 64 is configured to perform the following examplesteps for Matrix 60 processing: a) Calculate Pixel Size and SignalLevel; b) Determine signal level sequences; c) Calculate Decay Factorfor Sequence Pixel; d) Transform Matrix; and e) Calculate WaveformValues 200. In the below example operation the following notations areused: Iw—image width in pixels; Ih—image height in pixels; Idpix—imagehorizontal resolution in dots per inch (dpi); Idpiy—image verticalresolution in dots per inch (dpi); Pw—pixel width; Ph—pixel height;Ps—pixel signal level; and M={mij}—scanned image matrix, where i=0, Ih-1and j=Iw-1. the following example operation is described for scanningand conversion of MICR characters 14 to their corresponding characterwaveforms 200, by example only. Therefore, it is recognised that thefollowing operation could also apply to scanning and conversion ofprinted markings IM in general and to their correspondingly generatedmarking waveforms 200.

In terms of the above described operation of the reader 24 andconversion module 62, a MICR area of the MICR document 12 is scanned andthe scanned image 25 is converted into a dynamic PCS map 58 at thespecified threshold 20 (e.g. to be in compliance with the ANS standardthe PCS threshold value must be set to 0.6), and the PCS map 58, as abinary image (bitmap), is used to determine the matrix representation 60of the original MICR area. The bitmap 58 obtained is converted asrepresented by the matrix M (e.g. series of ordered pixels 60), so thateach matrix element mij value corresponds to a bitmap pixel: mij=1 if apixel is “black” and mij=0 if a pixel is “white”. Note, that matrixvalues can be flipped horizontally, where the reading 24 starts from theright edge of the MICR document 12.

In terms of the operation of the module 64 to Calculate Pixel Size andPixel Signal Level, the pixel size and pixel signal level depend on thescanned image 25 resolution and can be calculated as following:

Pw=1/Idpix;

Ph=1/Idpiy.

The pixel signal level Ps is derived from the nominal MICR Character 14,for ANS Standard ON-US character is used as a nominal one; it is knownthat the height of 0.078 (optional: minus 2*radius) inch produces 100signal units, hence:

Ps=[known signal level]*Ph/[known height].

For Example, for nominal ON-US character and an imaged scanned at 600dpi:

Ph= 1/600=0.0017 inch; and

Ps=[known signal level]*Ph/[known height]=>100*0.0017/0.078=2.1368(signal units per pixel).

In order to determine signal level sequences, the module 64 isconfigured to Let^(S) ^(i) ^(k={m) ^(ij) ^(}, j ∈[j1, j2]), where k issequence index in ith row and j is a matrix column index.

Columns 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Rows l 0 00 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 i + 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 00 0 0 0 0 0 0

The ith row on the example matrix 60 values above has three sequences:

S_(i) ⁰={m_(ij)}, j ∈[0,6]

S_(i) ¹={m_(ij)}, j ∈[7,14]

S_(i) ²={m_(ij)}, j ∈[15,20]

The (i+1)th row on the example matrix 60 values above has threesequences:

S _(i+1) ⁰ ={m _(ij) }, j ∈[0,2]

S _(i+1) ¹ ={m _(ij) }, j ∈[3,12]

S _(i+1) ² ={m _(ij) }, j ∈[13,20]

For each sequence S_(i) ^(k), where k is sequence index in ith row, itsphysical width can be calculated as

W(S _(i) ^(k))=L(S _(i) ^(k))*P _(W),

Where L(S_(i) ^(k)) is sequence length in pixels and is equal to thenumber of matrix 60 elements forming the sequence. For each sequenceelement m_(ij) its physical offset x(m_(ij)) from the sequence start canbe calculated as

x(m _(ij))=(j−j1)*P _(W)

In order to Calculate a Decay Factor for Sequence Pixel, the module 64can be configured as for each signal sequence element the Decay Factord(x) can be calculated. The decay factor is used to calculate thecontribution of each pixel to the resulting waveform.

If sw is W(S_(i) ^(k)) and x is x(m_(ij)), than pixel decay d(x) can becalculated as:

d(x)=0, if no signal sequence found in the matrix row

d(x)=f(x)−f(sw−x), if signal exists

d(x)=f(sw−x)−f(x), if signal does not exists

d(x)=f(sw−x), if signal does not exist and the sequence is the first rowsequence

d(x)=f(x) if signal does not exist and the sequence is the last rowsequence

Where:

${{f(x)} = \frac{1}{\exp \left( \frac{x^{2}}{\sigma^{2}} \right)}},{\sigma = 0.013^{''}},$

for example.

Referring to FIGS. 5,6,9, the sequence elements of the Matrix 60 can betransformed using the decay factor as all matrix elements m_(ij) aresubstituted as following:

m _(ij) =d(x)*P _(S)

In turn, the calculated optical character waveform 200 values aredetermined as signal level values (y) and their horizontal offset (x)can be calculated as:

y_(j) = ?m_(ij) x_(j) = j ⋆ P_(W)?indicates text missing or illegible when filed

The resulting distribution of signal level values Y over thecorresponding positional spacing X of the MICR characters 14 results inthe generation of the optical waveforms 200, such that the peaks,valleys, and reference/zero values 54 are correlated to the relativespacing/width of the lines (e.g. strokes) 52 of the print character 14dimensions. The term optical waveform 200 can refer to the shape of agraph of the varying quantity of determined optical signal Y against thespacing/layout distance X of the corresponding print character 14characteristics. It is recognised that other optical waveform 200 shapes(other than the arcuate shape as shown) can be used, such as stepfunctions, saw-tooth, square, triangle, etc.

Accordingly, referring to FIG. 6, the print dimension characteristics 52are correlated with the optical waveform characteristics 54, as thewaveform generation direction is related to the optical read 24direction. For example, the relative peak placement of the determinedoptical waveform 200 is correlated to the relative edges placement ofthe printed marking IM lines/strokes 52, the spacing between the peaksis correlated to the width between the edges of the print character 14lines/strokes and/or the spacing between adjacent lines/strokes, theamplitude of the optical waveform peaks 200 (in the Y direction) isrelated to the height(s) of the lines/strokes of the printed character14 at a particular location X, and/or the amplitude of the opticalwaveform peaks 200 (in the Y direction) is related to the a combinationof the heights of the multiple overlapping lines/strokes (in the Ydirection—see FIGS. 7 b,c) of the printed character 14 at a particularlocation X.

In terms of character features, optical properties (e.g. printdimensions 52 such as character radius, line/stroke width, line/strokeheight, inter-character/line/stroke 14 spacing, etc.) of the markings IMare understood, once the conversion module 62 has corrected for contrastand/or reflectance issues of the document surface 13. For example, thestroke width 52 of E-13B characters 14 can vary from 8 to 15 mil in theX direction. In other words, the distance count in X between twoadjacent peaks 54 in the optical waveform 200 can vary from 10 to 19counts instead of 16 counts due to printing quality control problems.All of the above variances in determined optical signal level anddistribution (e.g. in X) from a selected optical standard such astemplates 202 (with respect to above or below definedthresholds/criteria 20) can be used to identify optical print dimensionerrors in the imaged print characteristics 25.

In view of the above, the optical templates 202 of FIGS. 7 a,b,c can beused to represent the theoretical optical waveform 202 in the absence ofany contrast and/or reflectance issues (i.e. the optical templates 202can be generated based on a perfect/optimum print contrast signal and/orlack of reflectance effects. As can be seen, the peaks of the opticalwaveform template 202 are aligned with the edge of the lines/strokes,which provides for, as the leading edge A of the line/stroke generates achange in the determined optical signal level, producing correspondingleading peak A of the optical waveform 202. There may be no change inthe determined optical signal level between A and trailing edge B of thestroke (see FIG. 7 a). As trailing the edge B is encountered, theoptical signal level is determined (as discussed above in relation tothe example operation of the module 64) producing the correspondingtrailing peak B of the waveform 202.

The optical waveform 200,202 can also have waveform characteristics 54such that for the leading edge A of a vertical stroke/line, this resultsin a signal level/peak of one polarity, while a decrease in ink for thetrailing edge B results in a signal level/peak of the opposite polarity.Not shown, it is recognised that as an alternative embodiment thepresence of edges in the print dimensions can be used to generate thecorresponding peaks all in the same direction, akin to DC currentwaveforms, as compared to the example embodiment in which leading andtrailing edges are represented using peaks of opposite polarity, akin toAC current waveforms. In any event, the term leading edge can be used torepresent the transition from absence of a character line/stroke to thecharacter line/stroke itself (e.g. from white to black). Further, theterm trailing edge can be used to represent the transition from thepresence of a character line/stroke to the absence of the characterline/stroke (e.g. from black to white).

Analysis Module 50

Therefore, assuming uniform ink width, height, and/or stroke relativespacing (vertically and/or horizontally) within and/or betweencharacters 14, any the optical waveform 200 differences (as compared tothe templates 202) can be due to character 14 features 52 (e.g.strokes/lines) that are not in compliance with the optical printstandard associated with the thresholds 20. For example, the oversize inheight (e.g. width of the stroke in the Y direction), such as theRelative signal amplitude is a function of the amount of flux densitychange. It can be seen that the read head signal is a differentiation ofthe character's 14 magnetic intensity. By integrating this signal, the“character waveform” 200 is developed which indicates the total amountof ink passing the read head gap. It is this waveform that can beoptionally initially analyzed and recognized through comparison to thepatterns 36 by the decision logic of the MICR system 22.

Determined optical waveform 200 features can include determined“positive peak values”, “negative peak values”, and “substantially zerovalues” 54 as Y signal levels (based on a converted image data 25 toaccount for print contrast signal and/or reflectance effects) which arearranged in combinations in the X direction (e.g. based on the printcharacteristics 52) for the marking IM dimensions (e.g. for characters14 within the E-13B font). On the other hand, optical waveform template202 features can include standardized “positive peak values”, “negativepeak values”, and “substantially zero values” as Y levels which arearranged in predetermined combinations in the X direction (e.g. templatepatterns 34) for the predefined standard marking IM dimensions (e.g. forpredefined characters 14 dimensions of the E-13B font standard). Themodule 64 can be configured to match/compare the determined “features”54 against all the templates 202 for the E-13B font. A template 202 canbe define as a predefined particular combination of positive, negativeand substantially zero values 54 for an individual character and thepositions they are allowed to occupy for an individual character 14 (ormarking IM) based on predefined standard print dimensions 52.

The module 64 is therefore configured to apply optical waveform featurerecognition rules (based on the templates 202) to the determined“features” 54 to determine if the features 54 actually match thefeatures included in one of the templates 202 well enough to berecognized as that particular character 14, for example.

The following print quality specifications/thresholds 20 of opticalerrors for MICR characters 14 can be, for example: Horizontal position;vertical position including permitted vertical variation from character14 to character 14 and/or proper vertical placement of the entire MICRline on the document 12; skew as the rotational deviation of a character14 from the vertical with reference to the bottom edge of the document12; character-to-character spacing as the distance from the right edgeof one MICR character 14 to the right edge of the next; character size;voids; or deletions as the absence of ink; extraneous ink or spots asunwanted bits of ink that result from unavoidable splatter and smear ofthe magnetic printing inks, which may be invisible to the unaided eyebut can affect the wave patterns 200 of MICR characters 14 dependingupon the spots size, quantity, and position; Debossment; and strokewidth errors (e.g. in stroke width and/or height) affecting opticalsignal strength/level.

Other example optical defects are: an over/under size width of the MICRcharacter 14; an ink void in the MICR character 14; an extraneous inkportion adjacent to the MICR character 14; an irregular radius of theMICR character 14; an over/under size height of the MICR character 14;and an irregular edge (e.g. not smooth but ragged) of the MICR character14. These optical defects can be associated with dimensional featuredefect thresholds 20 of the character standard as the optical standarddefined via the templates 202. The optical defect can also be: anextraneous ink portion adjacent to the MICR character 14; and/orimproper spacing between an adjacent MICR character 14 and the MICRcharacter 14.

It is recognised that the character 14 matching can be performed by theoptical reader 24 itself and included as part of the optical data 25and/or can be performed by the analysis module 50. Further, it isrecognised that one or more functions of the conversion module 62 and/orthe waveform generation module 64 can be performed by the reader 24, asdesired. For example, the reader 24 can be configured to include the OCRcapabilities to capture the image data 25, the ability to do conversionsrelated to print contrast and/or reflectance values, and/or the abilityto generate the optical waveform 200 from the matrix 60.

Operation of the System 10

Referring to FIGS. 1, 5, 6,13, shown is a method 300 for determining anoptical waveform 200 based on a plurality of print features 52 of aselected marking IM of a document 12. At step 302, the reader 24 obtainsoptical image data 25 representing the print features 52 of the selectedmarking IM. At step 304, the conversion module 62 corrects at least oneof print contrast or reflectance of the print features 52 in the opticalimage data 25 using respective print contrast thresholds 20 orreflectance thresholds 20 to produce a converted pixel map 60 of theselected marking IM, the pixel map 60 containing an ordered sequence ofvalues. At step 306, the generation module 64 transforms the printfeatures 52 represented in the converted pixel map 60 to a plurality ofcorresponding waveform features 54 to produce the optical waveform 200of the selected marking IM, the corresponding waveform features 54including a plurality of spaced apart peaks representing respectiveoptical signal levels of the print features 52.

It is recognised that the selected marking IM can be is a magnetic inkcharacter recognition (MICR) character 14 and the plurality of printfeatures 52 can include a line having a printed width and a printedheight and the selected marking can be a plurality of magnetic inkcharacter recognition (MICR) characters 14 of a MICR line in thedocument 12. The method can have a further step 308 of removing one ormore background 18 print features from the optical image data 25 in thecorrecting step.

The selected marking IM can include a combination of distributed linesin at least one of a vertical direction or a horizontal direction on thedocument 12, the combination of distributed lines either continuouslyconnected or spaced apart from one another, wherein the combination ofdistributed lines can be a MICR character. The map 60 can be a pixelmatrix having one binary value representing the presence of at least aportion of the printed combination of distributed lines in a first pixeland the other binary value representing the absence of any of theprinted combination of distributed lines in a second pixel. The waveformfeatures 54 can include features selected from the group consisting of:peak spacing between adjacent peaks; peak amplitude; a reference valuebetween peaks representing a lack of the printed features; only positivepeaks; only negative peaks; and both positive and negative peaks.

The method 300 can also include an optional step 310 of comparing thegenerated optical waveform 200 against a template optical waveform 202based on print features 52 defined in a print standard of the selectedmarking IM.

Alternative Embodiment of the Print Contrast Signal Conversion Module 62

In optical character recognition for the present system 5, see FIG. 10note, not to scale, the PCS is a measure of the contrast between aselected target portion 21 (e.g. a target pixel or group of pixels) ofthe imaged document 12 (see FIG. 1) and a defined region 22 of theimaged document 12 adjacent/around the selected target portion 21 (e.g.a series of background image 18 pixels adjacent to the target pixel),note—the absolute sizing of the target portion 21 and the defined region22 are not to scale and are for illustrative purposes only. The targetportion 21 is characterized based on location of the target portion 21on the surface 13 of the document 12. For example, in the case of atarget portion 21 located in the dollar sign area (e.g. IM) of the check12, the desired PCS will be large (e.g. the dollar sign should have ahigh contrast as compared to its surrounding background image 18). Inthe case of selected AOIs (e.g. Payee, Signature, etc.), the PCS shouldhave a negligible value (e.g. the AOIs should be blank when thebackground image 18 is digitally removed from the image 17 of thedocument 12). In the case of the endorsement line and phrase“Endorsement signature or Stamp” (e.g. IMs), the PCS should be 0.60minimum (e.g. the endorsement line and indication IM should bediscernable from the background image 18 in the digital image 17 of thedocument 12).

It is recognised that the target portion 21 may contain only a portionof the AOIs/IMs and the defined region 22 may contain only a portion ofthe background image 18, the target portion 21 may contain only aportion of the background image 18 and the defined region 22 may containonly a portion of the AOIs/IMs, the target portion 21 may contain both aportion of the background image 18 and a portion of the AOIs/IMs, and/orthe defined region 22 may also contain both a portion of the AOIs/IMsand a portion of the background image 18, for example. It is alsorecognised that both the target portion 21 and the defined region 22 mayboth contain only a portion of the background image 18, for example. Thesize of the defined region 22 can selected so as to provide for at leastsome of the background image 18 is included in each target portion 21selected iteratively about the surface 13 of the document 12 (see FIG.13). The size of the defined region 22 can be chosen to be larger thanthe size of the target portion 21. For example, the target portion 21can be one or more pixels that is smaller in extent than the relativelylarger (in relation to the number of pixels of the target portion 21)number of pixels comprising the defined region 22. For example, thetarget portion 21 can be one or more pixels (e.g. one pixel) that wouldfit within (e.g. centered) the grouping of defined region 22 pixels(e.g. comprising the extent of a ⅛ inch square area as per the ANSI, CPAstandards).

Contrast can be defined as the range of optical density and/or tone on adocument 12 as the extent to which adjacent areas (e.g. background image18 adjacent to printed/written critical data 15 to be input in the AOIs,background image 18 adjacent to IM) on the document 12 differ inbrightness. It is recognised that the degree of difference in lightness,brightness (i.e. contrast) between the AOIs/IMS and the adjacentbackground images 18 makes the critical data 15 (when input) and the IMsmore or less distinguishable in the digital image 17 of the document 12.For example, the print contrast signal (PSC) can be calculated as=100%(defined region 22 reflectance−selected target portion 21reflectance)/(defined region 22 reflectance). This means that measuredreflectance (Rr) of a dynamically selected defined region 22 of thedocument image 17 can be compared with the measured reflectance (Rt) ofthe selected target portion 21 of interest, i.e. PCS=(Rr−Rt)/Rr.Examples of PCS thresholds 20 are: 0.3 maximum for all target portions21 located within the CAR AOI; 0.6 minimum for all MICR characters (i.e.PCS with respect to the clear band background around the MICRcharacters); 0.6 minimum for the dollar sign; 0.3 maximum for the MICRclear band abound the MICR characters; etc.

Reflectance can be defined as the relative brightness, or the amount oflight reflected from each particular marking/indication (e.g. backgroundimage 18, IM, etc.) that would be present on the surface 13 of themanufactured document 12. For example, for checks 12, the amount oflight is reflected from each particular marking sample of paper and/orink. An example reflectance scale is a range of 0% to 100%, where 0% isabsolute black (considered the darkest colour/shade) and 100% is maximumdiffuse reflectance of the entire incident light (considered thelightest colour/shade). For example, the ANSI standard for physicalchecks 12 for reflectance is specified at not less than 40% in all areasof interest AOI with the exception of the convenience amount area (i.e.CAR which contains the numerical amount), which is not less than 60%. Ifthe background features 18 are recorded in the image 17 of the document12 as too dark (i.e. reflectance is too low in the AOIs), the criticaldata 15 could drop out (e.g. be occluded) due to insufficient contrastbetween the overlapping background image 18 and critical data 15 in theimage 17 taken of the document 12. The Convenience Amount Recognition(CAR) is the numerical amount area AOI shown in FIG. 1. It is criticalthat the banks can read the CAR rectangle and its corresponding printcontrast signal (PCS) to assure the printed rectangle dropped out anddid not interfere with automatic machine recognition of handwrittenamounts in bank imaging equipment (not shown). It is recognised that lowreflectance causes low contrast and unintended dropout of vitalinformation (e.g. critical data 15, IMs), while high contrast backgroundpatterns 18 can cause random background clutter to remain in the binaryimages 17 that renders critical data 15 (e.g. handwriting) and/or IMsambiguous at best.

Background clutter can be measured by creating the binary image 17 ofthe document 12 (e.g. not containing critical data 15 input into theAOIs), then converting the image 17 from gray scale to black-and-whiteusing a standardized conversion process as is known in the art, and thenmeasuring the clusters of black pixels (paxel count) which remain afterconversion. As part of tested image 17 quality for documents 12,specifically the requirements (e.g. ANSI) focus on the areas of interestAOI for background drop out, such that the background features 18 willnot occlude or otherwise adversely affect the image quality of thecritical data 15 resident in the areas of interest AOI. As mentionedabove, the paxels are formed in the image 17 through low reflectance ofthe background features 18 and/or the document material 16 in the areasof interest AOI. It is considered that the critical data 15 on thesurface 13 of the document 12 should show up in the image 17 as darkerthan the surrounding background features 18 that may overlap the areasof interest AOI.

The results of the PCS calculation described above could be anindication of where the formation of dark (e.g. black) pixels, paxels,and/or paxel strings/combinations 22 in the image 17 would occur thatwould make it difficult for manual (by person) and/or automatic (e.g.OCR) recognition/identification/detection of the critical data 15 in theAOIs and/or the IMS of the image 17. One example of the paxel is a 0.01″by 0.01″ block of black pixels (e.g. an example smallest area of aphysical document 12 considered in capturing the electronic image 17.The paxel (e.g. a grouping of pixels) has to be complete (e.g. 66%), orat least a specified number of pixels (e.g. 6 of 9 pixels) in the paxel.For example, it has been found that individual pixels may not constitutea legibility problem, but 0.01″ by 0.01″ blocks of problematiclegibility does, especially when joined together in the string ofpaxels.

On the contrary to current systems the dynamic PCS based measuringprocess 200 of FIG. 12 is configured to determine the PCS for eachtarget portion 21 selected iteratively over the surface 13 of thedocument 12, such that each target portion 21 is compared to adynamically selected defined region 22 adjacent/around the targetportion 21, so that the check designer can rearrange graphic features ormodify the background features 18 for compliance of the design of thedocument 12 for PCS standards. The defined region 22 can be selected soas to be constant (for example) in size and positioned iterativelyacross the surface 13 at different locations 39 corresponding to therespective target portion 21. For example, the position/location 39 ofeach successively used defined region 22 changes to correspond with thelocation 39 of the respective target portion 21.

It is recognised that any target portions 21 that have a calculated PCSvalues not satisfying the specified PCS threshold(s) 20 (for thecorresponding locations on the surface 13 of the document), these targetportions 21 could be prone to forming the black pixels or grouping ofpixels/paxels and therefore important information (i.e. critical data15, IMs) risk being occluded in the image 17 created from the respectivedocument 12. In other words, those target portions 21 that have PCSvalues that satisfy the specified PCS threshold(s) 20 can be consideredby the document 12 designer as having design parameters that wouldinhibit adverse image quality of critical data 15 and/or IMs in therecorded digital image 17 of the surface 13 of the document 12.

System 5

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, shown is an document image testing system5 for use in testing the AOIs and IMs reflectance against thereflectance of the background images 18 of the document 12 (e.g. check)based on target portions 21 and corresponding defined regions 22iteratively selected across the surface 13 of the document 12 for allselected locations 39 (see FIG. 13).

It is recognised that the placement/position of the background features18 on the item surface 13 could overlap the areas of interest AOI thatare intended to include the critical data 15 (e.g. either to be placedon the physical item surface 13 by a user of the document 12 and/orduring manufacture of the document 12) as well as the IMs. Examples ofthe critical data 15 and IMs are such as but not limited to: handwrittentext/numbers; MICR data; security features; etc.

Referring again to FIG. 11, the design system 5 includes the document 12for feeding into a scanner 24 configured to record the digital image 17of the document 12. The scanner 24 illuminates all of the areas (e.g.pixels) of the document 12 by a light source (not shown) and a detector(not shown) measures the intensity distribution of the light reflectedby the illuminated areas of the document 12, e.g. on a pixel by pixelbasis. The reflectance R for each pixel of the document 12 depends onthe amount of absorption and the scattering of the light from thesurface 13 of the document 12, as measured by the scanner 24. As such,it is recognised that the digital image 17 has a plurality ofreflectance values R assigned to each pixel (or grouping of pixels)dependant upon the resolution of the scanner 24. The reflectance valuesR are then received by an input module 132 of a PCS engine 62. Acalculation module 134 then determines the PCS values for each of theselected target portions 21 using their reflectance value Rt and thereflectance value Rr of the corresponding defined regions 22 (e.g. a ⅛inch square surrounding the centered target portion 21). The determinedPCS values of the digital image 17 are then compared by a comparisonmodule 38 to determine if each of the PCS values satisfies theirrespective PCS threshold 20 based on the location 39 (see FIG. 13) ofthe PCS value on the surface 13 of the document image 17. The PCSthresholds 20 are stored in a memory store 112 (e.g. threshold table) asassigned to a respective location 39 in a coordinate system 35 (see FIG.13) of the digital image 17.

It is recognised that the reflectance value Rr for each of the definedregions 22 of the digital image 17 can be determined as an average (orsome other appropriate combination) of the reflectance values of theeach of the pixels included in the defined regions 22, as desired. Aswell, the reflectance value Rt for each of the selected target portions21 of the digital image 17 can be determined as an average (or someother appropriate combination) of the reflectance values of the each ofthe pixels included in the target portions 21, as desired. In the mostbasic case, the reflectance value of a selected pixel is the determinedreflectance value Rt of a single pixel target portion 21. For exampleeach defined region 22 can be a specified size (e.g. such as ⅛ inchessquare) and therefore the reflectance value Rr of each of the definedregion 22 of the surface 13 could be the average of the reflectancevalues for each of the pixels 21 determined in the defined region 22(e.g. the defined regions represent the possible ⅛″ square areasassigned to each of the targeted portions 21—as the ⅛ inch aperture asspecified by the ANSI, CPA standards.).

It is recognised that a plurality of the target portions 21 make up thesurface 13 of the digital image 17, as shown in FIG. 7 by example for afew target portion 21/defined region 22 combinations 21 a-22 a, 21 b-22b, 21 c-22 c, 21 d-22 d, 21 e-22 e, 21 f-22 f, etc, located atrespective locations 39 a, 39 b, 39 c, 39 d, 39 e, 39 f in the referenceframe 35. In other words, the representative (e.g. average) reflectancevalue Rr of the pixels in the defined region 22 a is used with therepresentative (e.g. single) reflectance value Rt of the pixel in thetarget portion 21 a to calculate the PCS for the target portion 21 a asPCSa=(Rra−Rta)/Rra, and then the representative (e.g. average)reflectance value, Rr of the pixels in the defined region 22 b is usedwith the representative (e.g. single) reflectance value Rt of the pixelin the target portion 21 b to calculate the PCS for the target portion21 b as PCSb=(Rrb−Rtb)/Rrb, and then the representative (e.g. average)reflectance value Rr of the pixels in the defined region 22 c is usedwith the representative (e.g. single) reflectance value Rt of the pixelin the target portion 21 c to calculate the PCS for the target portion21 c as PCSc=(Rrc−Rtc)/Rrc, etc., until all of the PCS values for eachof the targeted portions 21 of the digital image 17 are calculatedacross the surface 13 of the image 17 for all desired locations 39 (e.g.all pixels in the AOIs and IMs locations). For example, preferably eachof the pixels of the AOIs and the IMs have a PCS value calculated andthen compared to the corresponding PCS threshold 20 for that AOI/IMlocation 39 in the document 12.

It is recognised that the location 39 of each PCS calculation on thesurface 13 is recognised so that the PCS value can be compared with theappropriate corresponding PCS threshold 20 for that location 39. Inturn, as further described below, each of the calculated PCS values isthen compared with the PCS threshold values 20 stored in a PCS thresholdtable 136, based on location (e.g. X-Y coordinates in an defined X-Ycoordinate reference frame 35 of the image 17). These PCS valuethresholds 20 are stored in the threshold table 136 that is accessibleby the comparison module 134 in the memory 112, such that a threshold 20is specified for each combination of the location 39 and threshold 20.

Referring again to FIG. 11, the comparison module 38 produces aplurality of compared PCS value results 42, representing those targetportion 21 PCS values that satisfied their respective threshold 20. Theresults 42 can be presented on a user interface 28 (e.g. a display) forsubsequent review by the document designer.

Operation of the System 5

Referring to FIGS. 1, 11 and 12, shown is a process 200 for operatingthe system 5 for use in producing the results 42 of the document 12 thatis determined as those target portions 21 that satisfied the PCSthreshold(s) 20 for the assigned dynamic defined regions 22 positionedon the surface 13 of the document image 17.

Referring to FIG. 12, step 202 of the design process 200 provides (e.g.via the scanner 24) reflectance values R pixels of the document 12,including the AOIs, background image(s) 18 and IMs. At step 204, the PCSengine 62 determines the PCS values for each target portion 21 of thesurface 13 of the image 17. At step 206, the PCS engine 62 looks up thecorresponding PCS thresholds 20 from the table 136. At step 208, the PCSengine 62 compares the calculated PCS values with the appropriate PCSthreshold(s) 20 to determine those target portions 21 results 42 thateither satisfy or do not satisfy the PCS threshold(s) 20. At step 210,the accepted/rejected target portions 21 are shown to the designer viathe user interface 28. At step 212, in the event that certain targetportions 21 of the results 42 have unsatisfactory PCS values, the designparameters of the background image 18 are revised, including selectionof the color(s) characteristics and/or color density of the backgroundimages, for example, the new printed document is produced, and steps202, 204, 206, 208 are repeated. At step 212, if the document design isconsidered acceptable. (e.g. does not contain a specified number oftarget portions 21 that have PCS values that do not satisfy the PCSthreshold(s) 20), the document 12 design is deemed satisfactory. Forexample, the degree of target portions 21 that satisfy their PCSthreshold value 20 is indicative of the acceptability of the design ofthe background image 18 when processed by the digital image recorder(e.g. scanner 24).

Example of Embodiment of Systems 5,10

Referring to FIG. 15, a computing device 101 of the systems 5,10 canhave a user interface 28, coupled to a device infrastructure 104 byconnection 122, to interact with a document designer (not shown). Theuser interface 28 can include one or more user input devices such as butnot limited to a QWERTY keyboard, a keypad, a stylus, a mouse, amicrophone and the user output device such as an LCD screen displayand/or a speaker. If the screen is touch sensitive, then the display canalso be used as the user input device as controlled by the deviceinfrastructure 104.

Referring again to FIG. 15, operation of the device 101 is facilitatedby the device infrastructure 104. The device infrastructure 104 includesone or more computer processors 108 and can include an associated memory32 (e.g. a random access memory). The computer processor 108 facilitatesperformance of the device 101 configured for the intended task (e.g. ofthe respective module(s) of the system 5,10 and reader 24) throughoperation of the user interface 28 and other applicationprograms/hardware 107 of the device 101 by executing task relatedinstructions. These task related instructions can be provided by anoperating system, and/or software applications 107 located in the memory32, and/or by operability that is configured into the electronic/digitalcircuitry of the processor(s) 108 designed to perform the specifictask(s). Further, it is recognized that the device infrastructure 104can include a computer readable storage medium 110 coupled to theprocessor 108 for providing instructions to the processor 108 and/or toload/update the instructions 107. The computer readable medium 110 caninclude hardware and/or software such as, by way of example only,magnetic disks, magnetic tape, optically readable medium such as CD/DVDROMS, and memory cards. In each case, the computer readable medium 110may take the form of a small disk, floppy diskette, cassette, hard diskdrive, solid-state memory card, or RAM provided in the memory module 32.It should be noted that the above listed example computer readablemediums 110 can be used either alone or in combination.

Further, it is recognized that the computing device 101 can include theexecutable applications 107 comprising code or machine readableinstructions for implementing predetermined functions/operationsincluding those of an operating system and the system 5, 10 modules, forexample. The processor 108 as used herein is a configured device and/orset of machine-readable instructions for performing operations asdescribed by example above. As used herein, the processor 108 maycomprise any one or combination of, hardware, firmware, and/or software.The processor 108 acts upon information by manipulating, analyzing,modifying, converting or transmitting information for use by anexecutable procedure or an information device, and/or by routing theinformation with respect to an output device. The processor 108 may useor comprise the capabilities of a controller or microprocessor, forexample. Accordingly, any of the functionality of the systems 5,10 (e.g.modules) may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination ofboth. Accordingly, the use of a processor 108 as a device and/or as aset of machine-readable instructions is hereafter referred togenerically as a processor/module for sake of simplicity. Further, it isrecognised that the systems 5,10 can include one or more of thecomputing devices 101 (comprising hardware and/or software) forimplementing the modules, as desired. Further, it is recognised that thefunctionality of the modules 132,134,38, 50, 62,64, the reader 24, andthe lookup table 136 can be as described above, can be combined and/orcan be further subdivided, as desired. It is also recognised that thereflectance values R of the document 12 can be supplied by the scanner24 to the input module 132 and/or can be calculated by the input module132 from appropriate data included in the image 17 provided by thescanner 24 to the input module 132, as desired.

1. A method for determining an optical waveform based on a plurality ofprint features of a selected marking of a document, the methodcomprising the steps of: obtaining optical image data representing theprint features of the selected marking; correcting at least one of printcontrast or reflectance of the print features in the optical image datausing respective print contrast thresholds or reflectance thresholds toproduce a converted pixel map of the selected marking, the pixel mapcontaining an ordered sequence of values; and transforming the printfeatures represented in the converted pixel map to a plurality ofcorresponding waveform features to produce the optical waveform of theselected marking, the corresponding waveform features including aplurality of spaced apart peaks representing respective optical signallevels of the print features.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theselected marking is a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)character and the plurality of print features include a line having aprinted width and a printed height.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinthe selected marking is a plurality of magnetic ink characterrecognition (MICR) characters of a MICR line.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising the step of removing one or more background printfeatures from the optical image data by the correcting step.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the selected marking includes a combinationof distributed lines in at least one of a vertical direction or ahorizontal direction, the combination of distributed lines eithercontinuously connected or spaced apart from one another.
 6. The methodof claim 5, wherein the combination of distributed lines is a MICRcharacter.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the map is a pixel matrixhaving one binary value representing the presence of at least a portionof the printed combination of distributed lines in a first pixel and theother binary value representing the absence of any of the printedcombination of distributed lines in a second pixel.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the waveform features further include features selectedfrom the group consisting of: peak spacing between adjacent peaks; peakamplitude; a reference value between peaks representing a lack of theprinted features; only positive peaks; only negative peaks; and bothpositive and negative peaks.
 9. The method of claim wherein the peaksrepresent at least one of a leading edge or a trailing edge of the printfeatures.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein there is a correlation inthe optical waveform between relative positioning of the plurality ofspaced apart peaks and relative positioning of edges in the printfeatures of the selected marking.
 11. The method of claim 1, whereinthere is a correlation in the optical waveform between peak amplitudeand height of the print features or the selected marking.
 12. The methodof claim 1 further comprising the step of comparing the produced opticalwaveform to a template optical waveform based on print features of theselected marking defined in a print standard.
 13. The method of claim12, wherein the template optical waveform is based on at least one ofoptimum print contrast signal or optimum reflectance.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, wherein there is a correlation in the template opticalwaveform between relative positioning of template spaced apart peaks andrelative positioning of edges in the print features of the selectedmarking defined in the print standard.
 15. The method of claim 13,wherein there is a correlation in the template optical waveform betweenpeak amplitude and height of the print features of the selected markingdefined in the print standard.
 16. A system for determining an opticalwaveform based on a plurality of print features of a selected marking ofa document, the system comprising: an optical reader device to obtainoptical image data representing the print features of the selectedmarking; a conversion module to correct at least one of print contrastor reflectance of the print features in the optical image data usingrespective print contrast thresholds or reflectance thresholds toproduce a converted pixel map of the selected marking, the pixel mapcontaining an ordered sequence of values; and a generation module totransform the print features represented in the converted pixel map to aplurality of corresponding waveform features to produce the opticalwaveform of the selected marking, the corresponding waveform featuresincluding a plurality of spaced apart peaks representing respectiveoptical signal levels of the print features.
 17. The system of claim 16,wherein the selected marking is a magnetic ink character recognition(MICR) character and the plurality of print features include a linehaving a printed width and a printed height.
 18. The system of claim 17,wherein the selected marking is a plurality of magnetic ink characterrecognition (MICR) characters of a MICR line.
 19. The method of claim 16further comprising an analysis module to compare the produced opticalwaveform to a template optical waveform based on print features of theselected marking defined in a print standard.
 20. An optical readerdevice configured to generate an optical waveform based on a pluralityof print features of a selected marking of a document, the devicecomprising: an optical reader head to obtain optical image datarepresenting the print features of the selected marking; a conversionmodule to correct at least one of print contrast or reflectance of theprint features in the optical image data using respective print contrastthresholds or reflectance thresholds to produce a converted pixel map ofthe selected marking, the pixel map containing an ordered sequence ofvalues; and a generation module to transform the print featuresrepresented in the converted pixel map to a plurality of correspondingwaveform features to produce the optical waveform of the selectedmarking, the corresponding waveform features including a plurality ofspaced apart peaks representing respective optical signal levels of theprint features.